The Late Show with Larry Wilmore as Stephen Colbert cedes cold open to his former Comedy Central colleague

Wait, what? CBS opened cold on Thursday’s episode of The Late Show with Wilmore subbing in for regular host Stephen Colbert, even getting in one monologue joke amid chants of “Larry” before Colbert interceded.

“I’m sorry, man. I thought whoever leaves 11:30 at Comedy Central just gets The Late Show. I thought that’s how it works,” Wilmore said.

Colbert: “Larry, Larry, no, I’m sorry, that’s not, no.”

Wilmore:”It’s because I’m black, isn’t it?”

Colbert put his right hand fingers together and replied: “A little bit. Yeah.”

It’s all in good, clean fun as both men used to host their own Comedy Central late-night shows, and until Comedy Central cancelled The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore abruptly last month, both shared a boss in executive producer Jon Stewart.

Colbert jokingly but also sincerely asked Wilmore to “Keep it 100,” borrowing Wilmore’s catchphrase segment, to gauge his feelings post-cancellation. Wilmore explained how much he’ll miss covering “The Unblackening” as Election Day approaches in two months, and they both joked about Stewart.

Perhaps most surprising, though, was their conversation about delivering speeches at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Colbert’s satire from a decade ago is both famous and infamous for skewering then President George W. Bush to his face; Wilmore’s from this year made waves for mocking many of the media personalities in the banquet hall. But Colbert gave Wilmore high praise for his showing.

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